Credit card delinquency high

Fox News presented a financial news report on March 23, 2004. It said the percentage of credit card payments that were past due shot up to a new record in the final quarter of last year. But delinquency rates for some other types of consumer loans dropped, painting a mixed picture of how Americans are handling their debt.

The seasonally adjusted percentage of credit card accounts 30 or more days past due rose to 4.43 percent in the fourth quarter of 2003, the American Bankers Association (ABA) reported. That surpassed the previous all-time quarterly high of 4.09 percent set in the third quarter of last year.

James Chessen, chief economist for the ABA, said that credit cards are often used as a "financial bridge" by those who lose their jobs. He said that credit card delinquencies have been at high levels even as the economy has turned around because job growth has been slow.

"Clearly the improving economy has not yet touched all individuals, particularly those who continue to look for work and may be relying on credit cards to meet their daily living expenses," Chessen said.

In the latest employment report, there were some 8.2 million people unemployed in February, with the average of duration of 20.3 weeks without work. That marked the highest average duration of joblessness in over 20 years.

Chessen said it is unusual for credit card delinquencies to go up while other consumer lending delinquencies go down.